Incinerator's price jumps by $200 million

Four sites south of city mentioned as locations

In the three years since Frederick County started talking about building a trash incinerator, the price tag has jumped almost $200 million.

The Frederick Board of County Commissioners learned from trash disposal officials Tuesday that the estimated cost to build a "waste-to-energy" facility here has jumped from $323 million to $527million.

Commissioners commented little during the presentation, but were surprised about the new numbers.

"How much are we going to have to tell the public they're going to have to contribute?" Commissioner Charles A. Jenkins (R) questioned.

Of the $527 million, $323 million is for design, permitting, construction and equipment.

Frederick County would pay $316 million (about 60 percent); Carroll County, would pick up the rest.

During the all-day session Tuesday, commissioners also learned what company would build the incinerator and where it could be located. The mammoth amount of information was designed to help commissioners make a decision, but they made no final decisions Tuesday. Two public hearings are set for Feb. 17 and Feb. 19.

Wheelabrator Technologies Inc., based in Hampton, N.H., was chosen to build the facility. Wheelabrator built its first incinerator in Massachusetts in 1975. It is still in operation today.

Four sites were listed in the report as possibilities to build the facility. All are located south of Frederick, between U.S. Route 15 and Interstate 270, in the Buckeystown area.

-In the McKinney Industrial Center (adjacent to the Monocacy National Battlefield, near the county jail and sewage treatment plant)

-Near Allegheny Power property, adjacent to Md. Route 28

-At the Tamko site off English Muffin Way, near Md. Route 85 (Buckeystown Pike)

-At the EastAlco site, off Ballenger Creek Pike and New Design Road

The incinerator in Frederick County is proposed to open in 2015 with a projected lifespan of 50 years before a major overhaul or replacement is needed, according to Robin Davidov, executive director of the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority. The authority is an independent state agency that helps counties handle trash.

Commissioners were also presented with a written agreement detailing Frederick and Carroll counties' responsibilities in the project.

The incinerator would be built to handle 1,500 tons of trash per day. Of that, 900 tons will come from Frederick County and 600 tons from Carroll County.

Frederick County would approve roads in the county that Carroll could use to truck its trash to the incinerator, Davidov said.

If Frederick County finds it does not need the entire capacity for its trash, it can offer the extra capacity to Carroll County. If Carroll declines, Frederick can offer the extra room to another entity.

"Howard and Washington counties have expressed interest in using the extra capacity," Michael G. Marschner, director of the Division of Utilities and Solid Waste Management, said.

The incinerator will have the capacity to produce some electricity.

Marschner has calculated that Frederick County could produce about 88,147 megawatts of electricity each year to service county government buildings, Frederick County Public Schools and the wastewater treatment plant.

At $9 per megawatt, the county would save $1.3 million in electricity costs each year.